January 21, 2011

We moved on New Years Eve. I flew with the girls, and then rented a car to head up the hill to Los Alamos. At the time, New Mexico had just experienced a huge storm, with way below freezing temperatures. When we got to the hotel it was somewhere around nine degrees. Nine! Coming from San Diego, where it's always around 70, this was a huge shock.

Ryan definitely had the most difficult journey. He drove, with Humphrey dog, and it took about 18 hours because of road closures due to the storm. He had been sick before the trip, but thought that he was on the mend and well enough to drive. Somehow he came down with bronchitis during the trip and barely made it to the hotel that night.

When we first arrived:Madeleine was beyond excited to go out and play in the nine-degree weather. That lasted about two minutes.It took a long time for our furniture to arrive, a week, so we camped out in the hotel for a few nights, and then eventually moved into our new house. Check out these icicles on the kitchen window!

Ryan was off work for a couple of weeks, so we were able to take some day-trips to Taos, Santa Fe, and Bandelier National Monument.

On the way to Taos.

This picture doesn't do this justice, but this is Valles Caldera, a volcanic crater. It really is stunning. They have cross country skiing, snowshoeing, hunting, and a bunch of other things there. There is even a half-marathon at over 8,000 feet. I'd like to consider it, but just don't think I'll be able to train for it by June.

There are our neighborhood resident deer. We see them every couple of days, just walking down the middle of the street in front of our house, or jumping the fence in our neighbor's backyard.

So, we're settling in. Haven't made any friends yet, but have started to scope out the places with other moms and kids. We're looking at a preschool for Madeleine next week, as well as dance classes in Santa Fe. She's obsessed with ballet lately.